St. Kierans suffered a four point loss to Mid Kerry in round one of the County Senior Football Championship in Castleisland on Sunday. It finished Mid Kerry 2-14, St Kieran’s 2-10. Amber Galwey Reports:
Mid Kerry were the better team and looked fitter throughout the match. They got off to a strong start and dominated play for the remainder of the game. Gavin O’Grady, Donnacha Walsh and Darren O’Sullivan gave formidable performances from the beginning for the visiting side.
St Kieran’s didn’t look as fresh as their opposition with most of the homes side’s first half scores came from frees. Kieran’s Barry Lynch was strong on defence and Aidan Breen looked impressive for his side.
The skill and experience of Mid Kerry could not be denied and they got two goals before the half time whistle which saw them take a seven point lead at half time. At the break it was Mid Kerry 2-07 to Kieran’s six points.
The second half reflected of the first. Kieran’s looked poor and lost possession several times to the dominant Mid Kerry side. The visitors could have led by more but a strong wind forced many of their points wide during the second half.
As the half progressed Kieran’s got a burst of energy and attempted to close the gap. For the dying minutes they worked well as a team. Edmund Walsh was shown a black card minutes before the final whistle. His replacement, Daniel O’Shea found the back of the Mid Kerry net, after some good play by Thomas Hickey, closing the gap to just three points. However Kieran’s teamwork and determination came too late and they were unable to catch the visitors. It finished Mid Kerry 2-14, St Kieran’s 2-10.
Kieran’s will take part in round two next weekend. The draw for that round will take place on Monday night, June 2nd.
Scorers for St Kieran’s: Tom McGoldrick 0-05, Thomas Hickey 1-01, Daniel O’Shea 1-00, Edmund Walsh 0-02, Aidan Breen 0-01, Padraig Reidy 0-01.
Scorers for Mid Kerry: Gavin O’Grady 1-05, Darren O’Sullivan 1-01, Gary Sayers 0-03, Donnchadh Walsh 0-03, Bernard Murphy 0-01 and Fergal Griffin 0-01.
